Bay Island Bonsai puts on a pretty good show by American standards. I think the reason we do is because we practice our displays as part of our club meeting programs.
This May we used Ned’s tree for the display-practice. The first picture was the overall winner in our discussion, but not by much.

There was a feeling that the stand above was too ornate and fancy. But members liked it for its size. The accent, though beautiful, most members “voted” against.

The stand above members liked the best for its simplicity, but most felt that it was too big for the pot and the tree. But they liked this accent the best. The camera-flash washed out the blue/grey color of the accent – which nicely complemented the color of the main tree’s pot.
This exercise just proves the bonsai rule: You can have a hundred pots and a hundred stands but not the perfect one. But in the end, you still have to choose one.